HCTV director leaving

Johnny Suire HCTV public access director Johnny Suire will be taking his final bow on Aug. 26, but he’ll be taking good memories with him of the station he’s run for the past nine years.

“This has been the best job ever. I have had so much fun here,” he said.

Suire is a Holden native and a Wachusett Regional High School grad, class of 1987. He majored in communications at Worcester State College, and went on to work for Greater Media Cable in 1995, eventually directing Newswatch on Channel 3. He had a stint in the corporate world as a multimedia production specialist at EMC in Hopkinton, but he was laid off in the business dip that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Suire will be returning to multimedia production in the corporate world and it was a tough decision, but one that he couldn’t pass up.

“I’m looking forward to the challenges and the opportunities for travel,” he said.

Public access assistant Jay Brunetta will be taking over from Suire. The two worked together on the Channel 3 newscast.

Suire is proud of the upgrades he has overseen at the 800 Main St. studio. New digital equipment that produces sharp sound and high quality images, Mac computers and Final Cut Pro video editing software have taken local access coverage to a product with professional polish. Three remote control cameras – at the Senior Center, Memorial Hall and the high school auditorium give residents a front row seat at a variety of the town’s various board and committee meetings.

He credits Cable Committee chair Larry Popple with supporting the station over the last nine years and is anxious that residents make use of the facility.

“Public access means being able to get your message out there. I wish more people would take advantage of it,” Suire said.

Filming the town he grew up in has been a joy for Suire. He recalls ride-a-longs with the police department that were real eye-openers.

“It’s not always just stopping the average speeders. We were stopping guys who had serious priors,” he said.

Wachusett football games were a favorite with Suire, but he also enjoyed putting out informative shows like “Senior Wellness.”

“Zabelle D’Amico did ‘Faces and Places’ for 15 years. She introduced us to a lot of local talent like musicians and craftspeople” he said.

He said Chamber of Commerce events were always fun to shoot and he feels gave a true picture of the town.

“The Scholarship Scramble, Taste of the Towns and Holden Days shows we have the kind of businesses where people walk in and they’ll know the owners,” he said, adding that Chamber director Jen Stanovich who features at these events is a television natural.

There are about a half dozen shows ongoing each month, plus specials like Civil War re-enactments and ForgeWorks Farm events in Rutland.

Volunteers are always welcome at the station.

“It’s free training in video and television production. If you’re working to be on the air or run a camera, this is the place for it,” he said.

As program director, Brunetta will have a lot of hats to wear, Suire promised, but he’s confident in his successor.

“He’s a great video professional,” he said.

As for Suire, he expects to keep up with the friends and colleagues he has made over the last decade.